Food in Britain

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Food in Britain

What do you think of as typical British food? Roast beef? Fish and chips? Tea and cakes? Or maybe there's more to British food than that? Check out this video to find out about what people in the UK are eating these days.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then, watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Preparation

Check your food vocabulary by doing this exercise before you watch the video.

This video is part of our Word on the Street series. Word on the Street is an exciting new English Language teaching programme co-produced by the BBC and the British Council.

Check your vocabulary: gap fill - countries and nationalities

In this exercise you see the nationalities. Type the countries in the gap.

Check your vocabulary: matching - food

Check your understanding of the food items that appeared in the video by doing this exercise.

Worksheets and downloads

Transcript

Carmen: The Chinese introduced oriental food to Britain. But before the Chinese, immigrants from all around the world came to live in London.

British people enjoy a huge range of food and flavours from other countries.

This is Borough Market, London’s oldest food market. Today, you can find food here from all over the world.

This is Italian cheese. Each group of settlers brought their own food and styles of cooking and people here embraced the exciting new flavours… maybe because British food wasn’t very good.

Restaurants from all around the world can be found on most British high streets. Indian, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Persian... the list goes on.

But just what are the UK’s favourite dishes?

On the Street: My favourite meal is Thai green curry.

On the Street: One of my favourite meals is... cottage pie with peas.

On the Street: My favourite food is... Chinese ... Chinese.

On the Street: What’s my favourite meal? Still full English breakfast.

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Chef: This is a full English breakfast. Tomato, black pudding, sausage, bacon, egg, mushroom.

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Carmen: A big fried breakfast might not be to everyone’s taste. But in Britain, there is something for everyone.

Celia Brooks Brown is a food writer and knows all about food and the future of food in the UK, today.

Mmm! It looks good. What have we got here, Celia?

Celia: Well, this is a British tomato salad with a Yorkshire-made sheep’s cheese. And here we have a Barnsley lamb chop with new potatoes and a mint hollandaise sauce.

Carmen: So is this a sign of developments in British cooking?

Celia: Yes, people want to know where their food comes from. Chefs in restaurants like these are reinventing classic British dishes. They’re using ingredients that are locally sourced and locally grown.

Carmen: So what about world cuisine?

Celia: Well, anything goes. Chefs love to experiment with ingredients from different cultures. And we live in a globalised society, it’s very exciting.

Carmen: OK, Celia, if you were cooking these dishes at home, what ingredients from different cultures would you use?

Celia: Well, I might use something like this. This is a Moroccan spice mix called Ras el Hanout. Have a sniff.

Carmen: Hmm. That’s really strong.

Celia: Lovely, isn’t it? Now, this might make a lovely spice rub for that lamb chop.

Carmen: I can’t wait to taste this.

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Carmen: The food in Britain reflects the many different cultures here. But some of the old favourites are here to stay. I’m off for my favourite, fish and chips. Want a chip?

In my country, Vietnam, we usually eat rice but not always rice with another food like at lunch or dinner, there is another type of rice names "xoi" and it's really richy. We usually eat "xoi" with corn, beans and peanuts. Another food for breakfast in Vietnam is "pho". Maybe you've already know about "pho" because it's very famous around the world. Just like "pho" are "bun" and "hu tieu". They are nearly like the same but their tastes are different. We also eat noodles and bread, too. There are a lot of food we eat in our breakfast, and I can't write all of it in my comment !

hello Little Dragon !;)
i am also from Vietnam. I am living in Hue. And my city has some specialities such as : ''Bun bo '', '' Bun hen'' , '' Beo, Nam, Loc'' cake and so.on. Have you ever taste it? ;p

I don't really like Full English breakfast, it's to much of fried food on one plate. But I like the 'MIX of Cultures' and the way that British chefs can mykeout new food by mixing BOTH bRITISH AND OTHER TYPES OF FOOD.

Hello IBRAzlatanHIMOVIC2!
A Full English breakfast is a bit too heavy for me too, so I usually just have cereals and maybe some fruit. Much lighter and healthier! What do you usually have for breakfast in your country?Thanks for your interesting comment!